Mercedes addresses Hamilton and Russell’s concerns about the brakes
The two drivers suffered from brake problems during the first and only free practice session of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
James Allison, technical director of Mercedes, revealed the cause of the brake issues that concerned Lewis Hamilton and George Russell during the free practice sessions of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Both drivers complained about braking problems, with Hamilton suggesting that the pedal was too long and his teammate Russell echoing his concerns.
Two different problems
Explaining that two different issues affected Hamilton and Russell, who finished the disrupted session in 11th and 17th positions, Allison said to various media outlets, « Lewis started with a car whose cable braking system was set in ‘passive’ mode, which allows for a safe lap, but it is not a very high-performing mode. »
For his young teammate, the problem was that the brakes were just a little spongy, so all of that will be sorted out for the next session.
A complicated qualifying session for Mercedes
The changes to the sprint format were confirmed during a meeting of the F1 Commission earlier this week, although the attitude towards these modifications has been positive.
Allison, who took back his role as technical director as part of an exchange with Mike Elliott, only 20 months after becoming the technical director, also gave his opinion on the Shootout qualifying format, which was being experimented for the first time this weekend in Baku: “Free practices are excellent as they allow us to discover the car, but I think we all prefer the adrenaline of qualifications and races more than that of practice,” he said.
If this new format was positively received by the technical director, the traditional qualifying session for the Sunday Grand Prix was not the most joyful for the silver arrows. George Russell couldn’t make it out of Q2 and will start in 11th position on Sunday. Lewis Hamilton managed to reach Q3 by finishing 5th, almost a second behind Charles Leclerc, who set the fastest lap time in 1min40.203s.
This is the first time this season that Hamilton manages to surpass Russell.
